Which cardinals are seen as contenders to be the next pope?
VATICAN CITY — A popular saying in Vatican circles is that if you “enter a conclave as pope, you leave as a cardinal.” It implies the sacred and secretive process is no popularity contest or campaign, but rather the divinely inspired election of Christ’s Vicar on Earth by the princes...
Conservative Poilievre seemed poised to be Canada’s next leader. Then Trump declared economic war
TORONTO — Until a few months ago, Pierre Poilievre was seen as a shoo-in to become Canada’s next prime minister and shepherd his Conservative Party back into power for the first time in a decade. Then President Donald Trump declared economic war on the U.S.’s neighbor to the north and...
Trump’s tough talk might help Liberal Mark Carney win a full term as Canada’s prime minister
TORONTO — Mark Carney’s political career is only months old, and it’s already been a roller-coaster ride. The former central banker appeared destined to become one of Canada’s shortest-serving prime ministers until President Donald Trump picked a fight with the U.S.’s northern neighbor. Carney, who was sworn in on March...
Drones pose increasing risk to airliners near major U.S. airports
WASHINGTON — A commercial airliner was on final approach to San Francisco’s international airport in November when the crew spotted a drone outside the cockpit window. By then it was too late “to take evasive action,” the pilots reported, and the quadcopter passed by their windshield, not 300 feet away....
Trump administration reverses long-held guidance on ‘road diets’ for traffic safety
A stylist was just starting her shift at a salon in Kansas City, Missouri, when a car smashed through the storefront window and landed in the waiting area a few feet away. Such crashes were so common along 31st Street that business owners regularly texted one another photos showing the...
From Buenos Aires to Rome: Key dates in the life of Pope Francis
VATICAN CITY — Key events in the life of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who became Pope Francis and died on Monday: Dec. 17, 1936: Jorge Mario Bergoglio is born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the eldest of five children to Mario Jose Bergoglio, an accountant from Italy, and Regina María Sívori, the...
Pope Francis changed church policy on the death penalty and nuclear weapons but upheld it on abortion
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis changed the Catholic Church’s teaching in areas such as the death penalty and nuclear weapons, upheld it in others such as abortion, and made inroads with Muslims and believers who long felt marginalized. Where Francis, who died on Monday, stood on key issues: Abortion Francis...
‘Who am I to judge?’ Pope Francis had an informal, lighthearted speaking style
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis, who died on Monday, had an informal, lighthearted speaking style, and sometimes he even created words in a combination of his native Spanish with the Italian that he spoke as pope. Some of his memorable quotes: A simple, initial greeting “Brothers and sisters, good evening!”...
Global tributes pour in to honor Pope Francis after his death
LYON, France — Tributes to Pope Francis instantly poured in from around the world from presidents to people of all walks of like on Monday after the Vatican announced the pontiff’s death at age 88. President Emmanuel Macron of France, a country that is largely Roman Catholic, focused on the...
What happens after the pope dies? Here’s how the next pope is elected
VATICAN CITY — The death of a pope starts a centuries-old ritual involving sacred oaths by the cardinals electing a successor, the piercing of ballots with a needle and thread after they’re counted, and then burning them to produce either the white or black smoke to signal if there’s a...
Pope Francis, 1st Latin American pontiff who ministered with a charming, humble style, dies at 88
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis, history’s first Latin American pontiff who charmed the world with his humble style and concern for the poor but alienated conservatives with critiques of capitalism and climate change, died Monday. He was 88. The Vatican said Francis died of a stroke that put him into...
Salvadoran President Bukele proposes prisoner swap with Maduro for Venezuelan deportees
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela on Sunday, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the United States his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on the social media platform...
Hegseth had 2nd Signal chat where he shared details of Yemen strike, New York Times reports
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth created another Signal messaging chat that included his wife and brother where he shared similar details of a March military airstrike against Yemen’s Houthi militants that were sent in another chain with top Trump administration leaders, The New York Times reported. A person familiar...
Police investigate shooting on subway platform that led to Harvard students sheltering in place
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Transit police in Boston were investigating a shooting on a subway platform at Harvard University on Sunday that prompted the school to issue a shelter-in-place order for students and staff. Authorities temporarily rerouted passengers on part of the city’s subway system to shuttle buses as officers from...
Trump draft proposes radical reshaping of State Department
A draft Trump administration executive order circulating among U.S. diplomats proposes a radical reduction to and restructuring of the State Department, according to a copy of the document seen by Bloomberg. The changes, if implemented, would be one of the biggest reorganizations of the Department since its founding in 1789....
Man who fatally shot 23 at El Paso Walmart set to plead guilty to murder nearly 6 years on
DALLAS — The long-running criminal case against a Texas gunman who killed 23 people in a racist attack targeting Hispanic shoppers at a Walmart in El Paso in 2019 is on the verge of coming to a close. Patrick Crusius, 26, is expected to plead guilty Monday to capital murder...
5 takeaways after Abrego Garcia, Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen meet in El SalvadorVideo
Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s diplomatic mission to El Salvador culminated in a face-to-face meeting with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the mistakenly deported man whose case has inflamed national immigration debates in recent weeks. Van Hollen, a Democrat, framed the trip as a success, telling the world he did what he...
Tornado-producing storm deals deadly flooding and large hail to Oklahoma and TexasVideo
A slow-moving, active storm system brought heavy rain, large hail and tornadoes to parts of Texas and Oklahoma and left two people dead as severe weather warnings Sunday continue to threaten parts of the south-central and Midwest U.S. On Easter Sunday, communities in Texas and Oklahoma were beginning to assess...
Florida State classes resume Monday after fatal shooting, but in-person attendance isn’t mandatory
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Classes will resume at Florida State University on Monday, four days after a deadly shooting on campus left two people dead and six others injured, school officials said. Students and instructors will have the option of holding classes remotely or in person, depending on the class. The...
15 years after Deepwater Horizon oil spill, lawsuits stall and restoration is incomplete
NEW ORLEANS — Fifteen years after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded off the Gulf Coast, killing 11 and sending 134 million gallons (507.2 million liters) of crude gushing into the ocean, the effects of the nation’s worst offshore oil spill are still being felt. Oil company BP paid billions...
Toll on Manhattan drivers remains in effect, despite Trump’s Easter Sunday deadline
NEW YORK — New York’s $9 congestion toll on most drivers entering the busiest part of Manhattan remained in effect Sunday, despite an Easter deadline from the Trump administration to halt the first-in-the-nation fee. Both Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the state agency overseeing the tolls,...
Alito’s dissent in deportation case says court rushed to block Trump with middle-of-the night order
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court acted “literally in the middle of the night” and without sufficient explanation in blocking the Trump administration from deporting any Venezuelans held in northern Texas under an 18th-century wartime law, Justice Samuel Alito wrote in a sharp dissent that castigated the seven-member majority. Joined by...
An Asian elephant calf was born at Zurich Zoo and its name will start with the letter Z
ZURICH — A 19-year-old Asian elephant at the Zurich Zoo gave birth this weekend to a male calf whose name, starting with the letter Z, will be announced this week. A light-sensitive monitoring camera picked up the birth before dawn Saturday and the baby’s earliest, wobbly steps inside the zoo’s...
250 years after America went to war for independence, a divided nation battles over its legacy
LEXINGTON, Mass. — Tens of thousands of people came to Lexington, Massachusetts, just before dawn on Saturday to witness a reenactment of how the American Revolution began 250 years ago, with the blast of gunshot and a trail of colonial flair. Starting with Saturday’s anniversary of the Battles of Lexington...
Marijuana holiday 4/20 coincides with Easter and Passover this year. Here’s what to know
Marijuana culture’s high holiday, known as 4/20, falls this year on Easter Sunday, as well as the last day of Passover, meaning cannabis fans can celebrate in some unusual ways, including an “Easter nug hunt” in Los Angeles, kosher-style THC gummies in New York and a “blaze and praise” drag...
